The Zullo enigma

The birthers seem to think that every time I write about Mike Zullo, it is in anxiety over some impending universe-shattering event, any day now, that will not only bring down the President but also anyone who supports him and folks like me, who they call O-Bots1. In fact, for someone who blogs about birthers, Zullo is about the only game in town. Even the birthers don’t believe Shrimpton, and most have realized that Orly Taitz is wholly incompetent to accomplish anything with a lawsuit and Larry Klayman isn’t much better. Apart from Zullo, birtherism is over except for Zullo and his Zu-Bots™.

The birthers are right that their opponents are interested in Zullo, but they are mistaken that the focus is his repeatedly promised, but never delivered, decisive evidence. Zullo has proven wholly incompetent to develop real evidence, and he lacks the resources to come up with a real scandal, if there should really be one. No, what’s interesting is whether there is a scandal in the Cold Case Posse (CCO) itself.

There really is a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Cold Case Posse, Inc. You can find it registered with the State of Arizona. It has a Tax ID number. It has an organization, a membership, and it raises money. Beyond a few details associated with the organization and a massive quantity of self-generated publicity, we really don’t know a lot about the Posse except that they have identified some bloggers as their enemies, they think there’s something wrong with President Obama’s identity papers, and they have generally proven to be incompetent and dishonest.

Brian Reilly has provided a rare inside view of the CCP though the anecdotes in his recent article here, but lots of big questions remain. My two biggest questions are: 1) What sort of money flows in birther organizations? and 2) Is Mike Zullo a con man or a true believer? In my mind, after Reilly’s Part 1, neither of those questions gets answered. Reilly says at one point that he was convinced that Zullo really believed some crazy Lord Monckton/MI-6 story, but con men are very good at convincing others of their sincerity. What Reilly saw and heard is helpful but what he believed about Zullo is less so.

Unquestionably Zullo says things that aren’t true, and this is an objective point of evidence; however, people say things that aren’t true for various reasons:

They believe they are being truthful

They lie for a nefarious purpose

They lie to support what they believe is a greater truth

In Zullo’s case, I think we can rule out number 1. While Zullo may have said false things that he thought were truthful, he certainly knows now that they weren’t, and his silence becomes intentional deception.

Would you tell a lie if it meant saving the lives of others? I think I would. Does Zullo believe so firmly that Obama is literally destroying the country so that any number of lies, false promises, and failure to correct past mistakes is justified by the greater truth of how evil Obama is? If this is the case, then the obvious flaw is that one ends up lying to oneself, and becomes incapable of telling truth from fantasy. Lies are consuming.

On the other hand, Zullo may be a simple con man, and the Zu-Bots his victims. This is why details about CCP finances are so critical to understanding the birthers.

Zullo is an enigma, and I’ll keep writing about him until I figure it out.

1For some time I have been tolerant of the label O-bot, taking it to be a synonym for “anti-birther.” Further research indicates that my usage is not general, and therefore I’m no longer going to use the term approvingly. Anti-birthers are not in general Obama supporters: some are and some are not.

64 Responses to The Zullo enigma

“Unquestionably Zullo says things that aren’t true, and this is an objective point of evidence; however, people say things that aren’t true for various reasons:

They believe they are being truthful
They lie for a nefarious purpose
They lie to support what they believe is a greater truth”

Another reason people lie is to make themselves seem more important than they really are. But, of course, Lt. Mike Zullo, who has had such an impressive career in law enforcement, would never need or want to do that.

There is an old saw about assuming malice in that which can be explained by incompetence, which the birfers have really put to the test. They have managed to construct a malice/incompetence feedback loop, and it’s highest form (so far) was achieved by the CCCP.

With no new material being ginned up of note, and no upcoming events to stimulate their, umm, creativity, all that’s left is watching the deterioration. Will it go quietly, or will their be massive, damaging, darkly entertaining fallout? There almost certainly should be some of the latter … actions should have consequences. I appreciate your efforts at teh truth, Doc.

If Mike Zullo’s true identity is that of the former Hendry County “Investigator,” and I use the term loosely, Mike Moore of South Florida, I can help you there, Doc.

As you can see with the Tiffany Sessions case, I know many of their deep, dark secrets. I can also tell you how and why Zullo has some seemingly odd connection with Sheriff Arpaio and the desert region.

I did listen to RC’s interview with Brian Reilly a few hours ago. He comes across as being very honest, sincere, and genuinely confused by Zullo’s actions.

However, he is also the epitome of what’s wrong with our country in that he has no comprehension of human evil. He will NEVER understand this and this is evidenced by his acceptance of Hawaii’s fraudulent claims that Obama is…well….that he’s Obama of Chicago and not Allen of South Florida.

I also had to laugh when he said Zullo automatically told him, “No. You didn’t show you’re DL in Arizona.” Brainwashing 101. It doesn’t work in situations where everything’s normal. But, try it in situations where murders have just recenty occurred, there’s blood and gore everywhere, you fear for both your own safety and that of your family’s. It works wonders.

I think they call it “gaslighting” and the drug cartels are masters at it.

Doc says: Zullo is an enigma, and I’ll keep writing about him until I figure it out.

Good for you! He deserves all the attention you can muster.

I just finished listening to most of Mr. Reilly’s interview on the RC Blog and, along with the insights in his letter to you I think the curtain has been pulled back and it’s pretty clear we’re dealing with what we’ve all suspected for a long time: A small time con artist who has managed to prey on the ignorance and prejudices of people, including the elected sheriff of Maricopa County.

The question, as you note, is to what end? Without knowing more about the posse’s finances its hard to settle on anything but the most obvious, and human, reason: Money…money for Zullo.

For everyone else – the birthers – it has to be the feeding of their irrational fear of and hatred for Barack Obama.

It’s obvious from Mr. Reilly’s insights that this really is a one man show with Zullo playing the Wizard behind the curtain. But unlike Dorothy’s gentle wizard Zullo comes off as a….how to say it…..nasty, egomaniacal used car salesman pulling a con.

While the birthers are all a twitter about Obama’s end days I’m beginning to think we are probably watching the death throws of Zullo’s Cold Case Posse. Let us hope.

CarlOrcas: A small time con artist who has managed to prey on the ignorance and prejudices of people, including the elected sheriff of Maricopa County.

I agree that Zullo is a con man, but Arpaio seems too experienced to be taken in by a shyster like Zullo. I got the impression that Arpaio saw a way to placate some noisier constituents, and gave the CCP and Zullo the task of “researching” the president’s b.c.

Arthur: I agree that Zullo is a con man, but Arpaio seems too experienced to be taken in by a shyster like Zullo. I got the impression that Arpaio saw a way to placate some noisier constituents, and gave the CCP andZullo the task of “researching” the president’s b.c.

Sheriff Arpaio may be politically savvy – you don’t win six terms if you’re not – but he is not a very intelligent man. He could easily be prone to gullibility for believing things congruent with his political instincts. In other words, he believed the words of a dysfunctional Mike Zullo because they pandered to a constituency he needed to win re-election.

Arthur: I agree that Zullo is a con man, but Arpaio seems too experienced to be taken in by a shyster like Zullo. I got the impression that Arpaio saw a way to placate some noisier constituents, and gave the CCP andZullo the task of “researching” the president’s b.c.

See alg’s comment. I agree with him: Arpaio is not very bright. He really is a one note guy…..he will do and say anything to get publicity.

Speculating about motives is fun but really just a distraction. We’ll never know Zullo’s reasons for doing this, but his shoddy investigation and unwillingness to retract blatantly bad info (eg, coding manual, use of “African American”) or address debunkings (eg, Xerox) are out there for anyone with two halves of a brain to see.

Having said that, I’d like to think he really is just an idiot. If you can accept that some common birthers are true believers, why not Zullo too?

Egipcios: If Arpaio is to run for Governor, then the financial scandal around Zullo becomes a potentially disastrous fire that will be required to be extinguished. Immediately.

And since Governor Brewer announced yesterday that she will not try to seek another term (there was a question about whether she could, but she had suggested in the past that she might try to), the gubernatorial candidate with the most name recognition (should he choose to run) would be one Joseph Arpaio (God help us!)

All of the posses are separate non-profit corporations. They have no relationship to each other and, other than wearing the department uniform, badge and driving around in marked cars, no connection to the sheriff’s office and, of course, they have no law enforcement authority.

She talks about killing people on threads all over this site and then goes on this thread and talks about someone else having a fake name and having no integrity due to having a fake name which isn’t even a proven fact. I think the fact that she’s on this site posting about the murders she says she committed gives her no integrity

Please add: Zullergs n. unit of measure, used to express the sum total pressure applied against the bounds of reason at a given moment by the combined hopes and dreams of all Zu-bots everywhere, including the wind generated by the pronouncements of Zu-bot #1, Zullo himself. Note: observation has proven Zullergs to have a upper and lower bound of zero.

bgansel9: LOLSomeone could make up a song that can be sung to the tune of “Living on Tulsa Time”

Challenge accepted. Could also throw in another Tulsa-themed parody: “Take me back to Zullo, I’m too dumb to be carried …”

Okay, how about Zullification: the universe-shattering event when the release of Zullo’s hidden information makes all the usurper’s executive orders, laws and Supreme Court appointments Zull and void.
Or, come to think of it, Zuniverse– an alternate universe in which Zullo really is everything the Zu-bots think he is.
Or Zusurper– one of Zullo’s birther rivals.
Or the Zupreme Court– that’s the one that’s going to pass judgment on Doc, Foggy, RC and all the rest of us.
And how about Zuthfulness: a measure of how far Zullo’s claims diverge from the actual truth.

Ah, a true Zu-Bot. You think that there is a scientific forensic report saying that Obama’s birth certificate is a 100% fraud, even though you have never seen it. You’re even using terms you don’t understand like “forensic science.” You trust Zullo when in fact every time he has let you down.

You are the perfect Zu-Bot!

Zu Bot: Interesting post…but not as interesting as Obama’s birth certificate being found to be a 100% fraud through forensic science.

Zu Bot:
Interesting post…but not as interesting as Obama’s birth certificate being found to be a 100% fraud through forensic science.

I have a question for you…

Who’s back would you have on any given day?

Obama’s or Zullo’s?

I’ll take Zullo’s instead of a man who lies every time his mouth opens.

Have you considered standup comedy? You tell some really good zingers. No forensic science has never been involved when it came to birtherism. The issuing authority says its legit no amount of fake internet experts changes that.

Wait what? You said you’d take Zullo instead of a man who lies every time his mouth opens… I’m sorry to inform you but you just picked that guy. Zullo is not a Lt. He’s not law enforcement, he’s a scam artist.

I have no idea how much money flows into birther organizations. When I was on the board of the Surprise Tea Party Patriots we accepted donations from people who attended the twice a month meetings. Since I’m not a member of the Surprise Tea Party Patriots I have no idea about their current funding.

As far as Mr. Zullo goes, you’ll have to make your own judgment about his motivation to continue the investigation in view of the Verification of Birth.

bgansel9: LOLSomeone could make up a song that can be sung to the tune of “Living on Tulsa Time”

Living on Zullotime

Well I left Oklahoma,
All set to take my country back,
I done went and lost my mind;
I was going to Arizona, [Zullo!]
Maybe on to California, [Orly!]
To see birfs bigger than mine!
My momma called me crazy;
My baby said I’m lazy;
Gonna show em all this time!
Cause you know I ain’t no fooling;
I don’t need no more damn schoolin’;
Just wanna waste my time.

Living on Zullotime;
Living on Zullotime.
Gonna set my watch back to it,
Cause you know me, they’ll just redo it!
Living on Zullotime.

So there I was in Maricopa,
Thinking soon it would be ovah,
Typing out my birfin’ lines.
They don’t want me in the movies,
I still ain’t got no groupies,
It’ lonely here among the pines.
So then I started thinking,
And I got to weepin’,
I really had a flash this time;
I had no business leaving,
Ain’t nobody would be grieving,
Seen I’m on Zullotime.

Living on Zullotime;
Living on Zullotime.
Gonna set my watch back to it,
Cause you know me, they’ll just redo it!
Living on Zullotime.

[It didn’t take much; seems this one was already written for the birthers!]

Constitutional alarm
I get the wake up call
Let that sucker jingle-jangle
Ring right off the wall
I’m Zullo the zero
I’m too racist to work
Tied one on with Orly Taitz last night
And wound up losing my badge

I’m Zullo the zero

I’m on a losing streak
I got myself in a Gallups lately
I can’t seem to get much sleep
I’m Zullo the zero

I wind up conning sheep
Nothing seems to make much sense
It’s all just Kenyan to me
You know I’m Zullo, Zullo, Zullo the zero
You know I’m Zullo, Zullo, Zullo the zero

Cutting out cards of Corsi
Switching off the late night Fox
Switching my brain off two hours early
It isn’t any use
I’m Zullo the zero

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